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As perfect as it gets: Yk Galaxy Pepsi wins Yk Adult Soccer League indoor title

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Yk Galaxy Pepsi are your winter indoor champions of the Yk Adult Soccer League after winning the title at the Fieldhouse on March 11. They are, front row from left, Mimi Mbimbo, Tanisha Steinwand, Trey Granter, Chelsea Dubiel, Michael Sadler and Yowhans Gebreluol; back row from left, assistant coach Wonder Ndhlovu, Ruzanna Smbatyan, Alexie Morin-Holland, Solii Dzemua, Phil Breton, Agnel Poruthur, Arman Aslanyan, Mohammed Ait Ahmed, Gabe Mahamad and Shadaine Shirley.

There are those seasons in sport which go down in history.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team to win every game in a National Football League season, including the Super Bowl.

The Invicibles in English soccer – both versions: Preston North End in 1888-1889 and Arsenal in 2003-2004, both of which went unbeaten to win the title in each season.

Yk Galaxy Pepsi winning the Yk Adult Soccer League title may not reverberate around the world but they reached that same pedestal on March 11.

They claimed the crown by beating the Anytime Fitness Purple Cobras at the Fieldhouse, 4-1, to not only lift the trophy but cap off a perfect season: 35 wins out of 35 in the regular season and three playoff wins.

Dillon Torindo wasn't playing in the game – he was watching the game online – but he was part of the team for much of the season.

He said he was expecting to see the Cobras in the final.

“They've been close with us all season and I knew we would probably end up facing them in the final,” he said. “They finished behind us in the standings and they have a really good side.”

Yk Galaxy Pepsi and the Cobras each had a first-round bye in the playoffs and didn't enter until the quarter-final stage. The Galaxy beat the Midnight Sun Mayhem in their quarter-final, 9-0, followed by a semifinal win over Pickaxe United, one of the Galaxy's long-time rivals, by a score of 5-2.

Torindo said that game wasn't exactly an easy one.

“We were tied, 1-1, at halftime, but we were able to shut them down,” he said.

The Cobras, meanwhile, beat Ragged Ass 62 Degrees in the round-of-eight, 4-1, before dispatching @ourfriendcraig FC in the semifinal, 9-1.

In the final, the Galaxy came out the better of the two teams with Gabe Mahamad scoring the opener only to have the Cobras come back to tie it at 1-1.

Torindo said from that point, the Galaxy managed to pin down the Cobras.

“We kept up the pressure on them and made it really tough for them to play in their own end,” he said. “We wanted to squeeze them out from the ball and it worked.”

Mahamad scored two more goals before Michael Sadler potted the fourth goal to salt things away.

Yk Galaxy Pepsi are your winter indoor champions of the Yk Adult Soccer League after winning the title at the Fieldhouse on March 11. They are, front row from left, Mimi Mbimbo, Tanisha Steinwand, Trey Granter, Chelsea Dubiel, Michael Sadler and Yowhans Gebreluol; back row from left, assistant coach Wonder Ndhlovu, Ruzanna Smbatyan, Alexie Morin-Holland, Solii Dzemua, Phil Breton, Agnel Poruthur, Arman Aslanyan, Mohammed Ait Ahmed, Gabe Mahamad and Shadaine Shirley. photo courtesy of Yk Adult Soccer League
Yk Galaxy Pepsi are your winter indoor champions of the Yk Adult Soccer League after winning the title at the Fieldhouse on March 11. They are, front row from left, Mimi Mbimbo, Tanisha Steinwand, Trey Granter, Chelsea Dubiel, Michael Sadler and Yowhans Gebreluol; back row from left, assistant coach Wonder Ndhlovu, Ruzanna Smbatyan, Alexie Morin-Holland, Solii Dzemua, Phil Breton, Agnel Poruthur, Arman Aslanyan, Mohammed Ait Ahmed, Gabe Mahamad and Shadaine Shirley.
Photo courtesy of Yk Adult Soccer League

Like any good playoff run, there's always an underdog story and this year, it was Maley and the Pussycats who provided some wagging tongues. They had finished bottom of the table in the regular season but sprung the first big surprise of the playoffs by beating the third-placed Woodyard Growlers in the opening round, 3-0.

They very nearly made it two shocks on the spin but Pickaxe United made sure of that, though the final scoreline of 4-3 ensured it wouldn't be easy passage.

Torindo said there's always one team each season which never fails to surprise.

“If you don't come ready to play, those teams will catch you by surprise and that's what happened with (the Pussycats),” he said. “We played them one game this season and we won with the final kick of the game. They're a good side and they just didn't get the results.”

As for the Galaxy, if you think their perfect season is courtesy of a loaded team, you'd be sadly mistaken, according to Torindo.

He said he wanted to focus on getting the 16-and-17-year-old players into the line-up and they didn't look out of place at all.

“We've been developing them in (the club system) for about six months and the coaches wanted to see how they would do,” he said. “They were at the age where they could play in the adult league and we wanted to have a good rotation of players. Their tempo was good but we were pushing them and they showed they can do it.”